The present invention relates to a full address reading apparatus for reading a postal code and address which are written/printed on a mail item and, more particularly, to a full address reading apparatus capable of reading full addresses with a high recognition rate even if a mail item on which the postal code and address are written/printed in a format using a first language is mixed with a mail item on which the postal code and address are written/printed in a format using a second language.
Various conventional full address reading apparatuses for reading full addresses (postal codes and addresses) written/printed on mail items are available.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-205686 discloses a Japanese full address reading apparatus for storing mail items on the basis of specific numbers (e.g., telephone numbers) for specifying addresses written/printed on the mail items when the addresses cannot be read in sorting the mail items by reading the addresses and postal codes written/printed on the mail items in the Japanese format. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-181287 discloses an English full address reading apparatus for reading a character string constituting an address, recognizing a plurality of wards, attributes of the wards, and positions of the wards from the read character string, and recognizing the address in accordance with the recognition result when the postal code and address written/printed on the mail item in the English format. Various other conventional full address reading apparatuses are known. In any case, each conventional full address reading apparatus has as a read target only a mail item on which the postal code and address are written/printed in the Japanese format or a mail item on which the postal code and address are written/printed in the English format. That is, only a mail item on which the postal code and address written/printed using a specific language serves as a read target.
In any conventional full address reading apparatus, the first problem is posed by a low recognition rate when a mail item on which the postal code and address are written/printed in a format using Japanese (first language) is mixed with a mail item on which the postal code and address are written/printed in a format using English (second language) due to the following reason. Any conventional full address reading apparatus has as a read target only a mail item on which the postal code and address are written/printed using a given specific language and can read only the mail item on which the postal or postal code and address are written/printed using either Japanese or English.
The second problem is posed by a high recognition error rate when a mail item on which the postal code and address are written/printed in a format using Japanese is mixed with a mail item on which the postal code and address are written/printed in a format using English due to the following reason. In the full address reading apparatus having as a read target a mail item on which the postal code and address are written/printed in the English format, a code number, a block number, or the like marked by a direct mail agent on a mail item having the Japanese format is often erroneously read as a postal code. In the full address reading apparatus having as a read target a mail item on which the postal code and address are written in the Japanese format, a code number, block number, or the like written/printed on a mail having the English format is often erroneously read as a postal code.